It’s a business idea that will have many consultants wondering how they didn’t come up with it first: A whiskey and vodka distillery a short ride from Capitol Hill.
That idea is about to become a reality thanks to a crowdfunding campaign. In addition to the small donors, the consultant behind it credits years of happy hours and her campaign management skills with helping make it happen.
Pia Carusone, who heads The Campaign Group’s Washington office, is part of a group of female entrepreneurs behind Republic restoratives, what will soon be one of the first whiskey and vodka distilleries in D.C.
“It’s been a fun kind of intersection,” said Carusone, who served as chief of staff to former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and later helped lead her gun control effort. “Working in politics, there are lots of reasons to connect over a cocktail and make a deal.”
Republic restoratives, which is being built now in Northeast D.C.’s warehouse-dotted Ivy City neighborhood, was the brainchild of Carusone and her friend Rachel Gardner. The duo brought in Seattle-based master distiller Rusty Figgins and have been raising money online to complete basic purchases like bottles and corn.
One major component is already in place: the 1,000-gallon still that Carusone said will eventually produce 3,000 cases of bourbon and vodka a year. The latter will be on the shelves when the establishment opens later this year. “Vodka is an ageless spirit,” Carusone said, which means it can be produced in a couple of days. Bourbon takes longer because it must be aged.
Many believe that American bourbon must be produced inside Kentucky to carry that title. While legally that’s not a requirement, about 95 percent of it is made in the Bluegrass State. Still, Carusone said her D.C.-distilled whiskey could develop a similar flavor. That’s because the spirit will benefit from a similar climate — hot summers, cool winters — during its barrel-aging process, she said.
While many consultants can claim to be whiskey and vodka connoisseurs, the move into distilling is a rare career jump. Still, Carusone said many of her skills have transferred to the new project. “So much of the spirits business is budget management, time management, managing relationships and people,” she said. “All of that is very familiar.”
And like a grassroots movement or campaign, Carusone envisions Republic restoratives helping create a community. “We’re going to have tours, we’re going to have tastings and seminars,” she said. “This is more than just a place to come to buy a bottle of bourbon.”
That ambition is part of the reason why the company’s crowdfunding page has exceeded its $75,000 goal in about a week.
Some consultants have left the industry and gone into catering or running coffee shops. Some have even gone into designing Christian vestments. Carusone, though, doesn’t see this as a permanent departure. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to leave politics. It’s where I focused my career, my passion,” she said.
For now, that passion will be split between politics and the liquor business.
Her new company’s spirits are still being named, but Carusone said one thing has been settled: They’re bipartisan. “Everybody likes a good glass of bourbon,” she said, “regardless of their political persuasion.”